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A 20 pound tank of propane is typically used for gas grills. There are about 21,591 btus (British Thermal Units) of fuel in every pound of gas. So a 20 pound tank has about 431,820 btus of fuel. Once the maximum btu output of the grill burner is determined, the total amount of fuel in the tank can be divided by the burner output to determine the number of hours a 20 pound tank of propane will last.

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One method of purging a propane tank involves bleeding out the shipping air and then filling the tank with propane vapor instead of liquid propane. This process is repeated for several cycles. Another method involves using a vacuum pump to create a vacuum in the tank of about 26 inches of mercury, or 2 PSI absolute pressure, and then filling the tank with propane vapor to 1 atmosphere of pressure.

A 500-gallon propane tank is a steel storage tank that holds liquid propane gas for residential use. The 500-gallon term means the tank has a water capacity of 500 gallons, according to Midway Gas. It must be safely located outside and away from the house.

Check the propane tank size on the side of the tank, or else measure its dimensions and compare to standard sizes for propane tanks. A propane tank should only be filled to 80 percent of its capacity; for example, a 5-gallon tank can only hold 4 gallons of propane.